INDOOR PERFORMANCE OF PEPPERMINT (Mentha piperita L.) IN RESPONSE TO VERMICOMPOST AND LIGHT QUALITY

Abstract

The present experiment was conducted at the “Horticultural Biotechnology and Stress Management Lab” of Dr M A Wazed Miah Research Center, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Dhaka during the period from November 2019 to March 2020 to evaluate the indoor performance of peppermint in response to vermicompost and light quality. The experiment consisted of two factors: Factor A: Vermicompost (4 levels) as V0 = 90 % cocopeat + 10 % broken bricks (Control)/pot, V1 = 30 % vermicompost + 60 % cocopeat + 10 % broken bricks/pot, V2 = 45 % vermicompost + 45 % cocopeat + 10 % broken bricks/pot, V3 = 60 % vermicompost + 30 % cocopeat + 10 % broken bricks/pot; and Factor B: Light quality (Monochromatic LED lights) as L1 = White light, L2 = Blue light, L3 = Red light, L4 = Combined red and blue light. The two factor experiment was laid out in Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. Vermicompost and light quality significantly influenced different growth and yield parameters of mint. In case of vermicompost, the highest fresh weight per plant (13.95 g) was found from V2 and the lowest fresh weight per plant (5.89 g) from V0. Considering the light quality application, L4 produced the highest fresh weight per plant (15.83 g) and the lowest fresh weight per plant (2.52 g) was from L3. Regarding the interaction effect, the highest fresh weight per plant (21.58 g) was obtained from treatment combination V2L4 and the lowest fresh weight per plant (1.87 g) from V0L3. So, the vermicompost dose, 45 % vermicompost + 45 % cocopeat + 10 % broken bricks/pot with combined red and blue light can be used for herbage production of peppermint.